The China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has given five of its members — including two of the largest — an extra 12 months to complete the formal joining process after they missed the December 31 deadline.
Brazil and South Africa were among the highest-profile countries to sign up to the multilateral lender, which was established by Beijing to make its mark in international finance and was opposed in its infancy by the US. Of the bank’s 57 inaugural members, Brazil was the only South American country while South Africa was one of only two in Africa.
Both are also members of the so-called Brics club alongside Russia, India and China, which recently joined forces to form the Shanghai-based New Development Bank.